Children of the Sun
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: AU. Gray's adventure exploring the harvest ends up quite differently. Gray/Natsu Week 2018, day 7: sun. God-AU. Pre-slash


**Children of the Sun**

A long time ago, a massive war had ravaged the land.

It hadn't been any usual war, if a war could ever be called that. No, it had been a war that had decided the fate of the land, the balance between Light and Darkness.

From both sides the armies fought, backed by the _mahou_ users and, most importantly, the gods.

It had lasted for too long, though the records had been lost to time, stories were still told about the great battle. How it affected the surface land and the people.

In the end, Darkness won.

It was crushing and everything changed.

Heavy and massive clouds covered the sky in permanence, winds were as sharp as knives and there was this acrid taste in the air.

The followers of Dark were able to adapt to these conditions with the help of the gods on their side. But to those who followed Light, it hadn't been so easy…

People had started gathering into what was called harvests. Everyone came from different people, carrying different abilities. Many were _mahou_ users, and that showed to being quite the asset.

So life continued on in a world that saw no sun.

The harvests were hidden in sconces that had been carved into cliff walls, plunging deep into the earth. It had been a long and arduous process, thankfully made easier by the help of the mages.

Gray had lived in the same harvest his whole life. He'd grown there, learnt the basics of his _mahou_ and had made a number of friends. It was fun but sometimes it got a bit boring.

Gray had learned everything about the grand war, the way the harvests had come to and the cycles that came and went. It made Gray curious. Curious about their lodgings which were old - and unexplored.

Of his group of friends, he seemed to be the one who wanted to explore them the most. It was strange and he was teased for it. Yet, Gray still wanted to go. It was almost as if something was beckoning for him to go deeper and to find all the mysteries.

That one morning, Gray was decided on having an adventure. He'd invited some friends but they all declined. Lyon's answer was complete bullshit but Erza probably did have her day full, learning to be a guardian as she was.

So, Gray went alone.

* * *

He'd walked deeper into the stone and earth, walking swiftly to the last place he'd explored. The wall lines were still lit in here but who knew how it would be beyond. He had some torches and flint in his bag, just in case…

The farther away he got, the most silent everything became. Gray's breathing was coming noisily, bouncing on the walls all around. Still, the wall lines kept glowing blue. Then, the corridor he was in ended. And gave way to a staircase. It went up!

Gray started climbing.

Step after step, rough dark stone walls surrounded him. His ears seemingly popped at one point. But Gray's hand on the wall kept following the smooth trail, something many others had done probably.

The smoothness was broken suddenly, as was the wall line. It was a breach on the wall. Gray looked through it and what he saw didn't quite make sense. There was the heavy and claustrophobic grey, as usual, but there seemed to also be a sliver of blue. Like how things were before the grand war!

It baffled Gray.

How was that possible?

Hell-bent on finding some answers, Gray kept climbing.

The stairs ended abruptly in a landing that led to a large door. The wall lines were lighting everything with a soft yellow glow.

 _Something has to be in there._ He thought to himself as he pushed the door open, carefully.

At first it was dark but, slowly, the wall and ceiling lines started to glow yellow, almost as if reacting to Gray's presence.

 _Huh… I didn't know they could do that…_ He thought as he took a look around the large room.

It looked like a large dining hall had been built there, though it had been long forgotten, as the heavy layer of dust that coated just about everything, from the long tables and benches to the statues that seemed to permeate the room, to the bas-relief that seemed to be covering one of the long stone walls, which was still highlighted by the wall lines.

There was something in the disposition of the room that was strange, though. It seemed like whatever was on the wall on the other side of the room was displayed in a way that showed importance. Gray walked to it.

It was a statue.

The statue of a young man standing in a pedestal, though the position of the body was different from what Gray had ever seen in statues – quite different, even, from the statues placed across the room he was in. The young man had an expression that was too lively, Gray nearly felt that he was glaring at him. His arms were being held alongside his body but there was a tautness to the muscles, more expressed by the hands balled into fists. Gray wondered about the spiky hair, it seemed soft even though it was made of stone. And then the garments… they were different from what Gray was used to see. He didn't wear the usual tunic and trousers combo that was usual in harvests. The young man was wearing a vest, as far as Gray could see, and his trousers were slightly on the baggy side. There was a scarf curled around his neck – which was unexpected, as only the _seasonals_ that came from the northern areas usually wore – and sandals. Sandals weren't adequate footwear. Gray found himself snorting at his appreciation of this strange youth that had been portrayed by the stone.

Impulsively, Gray placed his hand on the statue's leg.

What happened next scared the crap out of him.

The statue _moved_.

It started by a small groan that was followed by the statue swaying. Then the stone seemed to crumble before Gray's eyes and then a bright yellow light blasted the room, making Gray throw his arm in front of his eyes because of the brightness. When he opened his eyes and the bright spots of light stopped appearing behind his eyelids, Gray lowered his arm and took in the new situation.

The damn statue was _alive_!

And looking attentively at Gray. The eyes were open wide, and there was a sparkle in them that showed a mix of innocence and mischief. Gray didn't quite know what to do.

"It's about time!" The energetic voice of the once-statue shook Gray out of his slightly frozen state. "Who are you? What do you have to eat?"

"Huh. Wait. What?" Gray replied, taking a step back. "No. I'm the one who has to ask, who are _you_? Or maybe, what…" Gray quickly gathered his wits.

"I'm Natsu, of the Dragneel family and the bearer of the flame. Now, who the fuck are you?" He asked impatiently.

"I'm Gray Fullbuster and my family… huh, I live in this harvest." Gray replied haltingly. "What do you mean bearer of the flame?"

"Huh, the flame. One of the Sun's components. You know…" The other shrugged. "Now, where's that food and where's Happy?" He asked as he took a look around, distractedly, and scratched his belly.

 _Huh, no shirt_. Gray thought absentmindedly. "The food's downstairs. And I don't know what a Happy is."

"Happy, my companion." Natsu said plainly. And then the other part of Gray's reply seemed to catch his attention. He perked up. "You have food! Let's go! I'm _starving_."

"Okay. I'll take you there. And you'll have to meet the Master and everybody." And he helped Natsu down from the pedestal. The other wobbled for a moment before pausing to stretch and then he was bouncing around, his energy seemingly brightening the room even further.

Gray quickly grasped Natsu's hand and stopped him from continuing to explore the room.

"Come on." He said and they started descending the stairs. Hands still held tight.

* * *

 **A/N:** Entry for Gray/Natsu Week 2018 for day 7, sun.

Does anyone think I should continue? No? Well then, I won't. Thanks for the attention.


End file.
